MONEY is one of man's greatest and most important inventions, without which
civilised society would be unthinkable.
Most of what we do is either
for
or with money.

MONEY doesn't only
make the world go round, it
also determines where it's
going. If it is
schools and hospitals we want, it is
money that we use to
build, equip and staff them;
if we are plundering and
spoiling our planet - and
with it our children's
future - it is money
that is being
earned, spent and invested
doing so.

MONEY has been with us since ancient
times,
but we have not yet learned -
nor
shown much interest in
learning - how to use it responsibly.
Instead, it is used
as the most versatile
form of power in the
struggle for survival and
advantage in the
socio-economic environment.

Historically, those
who made the
rules (laws) for the use of
money,
naturally
enough,
designed them to favour
themselves, who were already in
possession of virtually all the
wealth, which - true to
their animal nature - they wanted to
retain or, if possible, increase.

We have
come some way since medieval
kings considered themselves
to be the "owners"
of their whole kingdoms, but
not nearly as far as some
like to think: we still accept
that just one man or family
can "own"
virtually limitless
amounts wealth - not least
because
an army of lawyers have made
very comfortable niches for
themselves
rationalising the
irrationality and justifying the
injustice of it. Just
like our socio-economic
order at large, modern
finance and the rules that
govern it are largely rooted
in man's "more
animal than human "
nature, and unfortunately,
there is far more money to
be made from plundering
our planet than there is
from saving it.

One of
the most fundamental uses of money is
in the creation (through
investment or speculation) of more money.
It is a pillar on which our
entire economy rests, it is
the "capital" in
capitalism. Like most other
people, investors are
primarily interested in
making money - not saving
the planet (although they
should be, because their
children too will suffer and
die if we don't). The economy (the
household of man) is given
priority over ecology (the
household of nature) as a
result of it having replaced the
natural environment as the
focus of our primitive
behavioural programming, and
this is causing us quite
literally to plunder our
planet - because there
is so much money to be
made from it. The use of
money to make more money (as
much as possible) is
such an integral part of the
system, and appeals so
strongly to our animal
desire for a free or cheap
lunch, that no one who
questions it is taken
seriously. An army of clever
minds, providing for
themselves in the
socio-economic environment
by rationalising and
justifying our more animal than human
behaviour, sees to that.

The irresponsible
(amoral if not immoral) use of MONEY
by our "more animal
than human " nature
is the central cause of
non-sustainability.

The
responsible (moral) use of
MONEY by our more
enlightened human nature
will be central to us
achieving sustainability.

It is not just the rich, banks,
big
business, or governments which use money
irresponsibly. We all do. If
not directly, then indirectly,
every time we hand over responsibility for its use to
others, when we buy products and services
without knowing how they were
produced or provided, when we
save or invest our money, so that it will work
for us, without
knowing how it will do so.

With every pound, euro
or dollar that we earn, spend or invest,
directly or indirectly we
are contributing
to a certain kind
of economy, one that is fair,
humane and sustainable, or,
far more likely at the
moment, one that is not.

MONEY is not just
important - it is vital, to
society as a whole, and to
each individual. No one can
survive without it. We need
it as much as we need air and water. In contrast to
air and water, however, it
seems that we can never have
enough money. This is because money
has very
special, almost magical, properties. Although
worthless in itself, it can be exchanged
for almost anything (including air and
water). As mentioned above,
it can
even be used to create more
money (if that is not magic,
I don't know what is!).
We depend on it for our most basic,
vital needs,
but the same money is also used to
satisfy some people's most extravagant,
unnecessary and wholly
unsustainable wants
and whims.

Even after satisfying all our own needs and
wants - which may be modest
-
there are still those of our family and friends, and even strangers,
whom it would be nice to help. Then there are all the worthy people and causes one could support, whether for genuinely altruistic reasons,
for the sense of power and
importance it
gives, or for
the respect, praise, love, appreciation,
etc. that generosity will buy for us.

With MONEY we can
satisfy not only our material needs
and wants, but also
many non-material, psychological
and social, ones
as well.
It largely determines our
status
amongst
family, friends and acquaintances,
as well as in society at large.
Money may not buy you
"real" love, but
if you are generous with it,
it will buy you
something very similar.

MONEY is the most
versatile form of POWER.
It can be used just as
ruthlessly as a fist, a
sword or a gun, but with the
advantage of legality; more
usually it is simply used
thoughtlessly or
irresponsibly. We don't mean
to do any harm with it . .
.

Those
with little or no money are
effectively in bondage to
those who have much. A
powerful man, whether he is wielding
a gun or a cheque book, is
intimidating to the
powerless.

If
we have MONEY enough, it
gives us apparent
independence from others, since
it enables us to
take (i.e. buy) what we need or
want from them. We
can buy other people's time
and skills and the fruits of
their labour. Slavery was
only abolished when the rich and powerful
realised that paying someone
for their services was
not just a more moral
way of getting what they
wanted, but was also more effective,
and freed them
from responsibility for
their slaves. Many of
today's "wage
slaves" are probably
worse off than some actual
slaves were in by-gone
times.

Most of us feel and
fear our dependency on
others (society), and seek security, and "independence
" in the power of MONEY. This
is the way things are - have
always been - and few
think to question it; but it has
had and continues to have a terribly corrupting
effect on human relationships,
and now, most threateningly,
on our relationship with the
natural environment.

A
fair, humane and sustainable
socio-economic order will
have to have radically
different values, attitudes,
aspirations, morals and laws
in respect to the use of money than
those we have at the moment,
ones rooted in our more enlightened
human nature.